As the climate grows more and more desperate for record labels, their answer to their mostly self-inflicted wounds seems to be to screw the consumer over even more. A couple of examples that quickly come to mind:

* The ABSURD retail pricing of Year Zero in Australia. Shame on you, UMG. Year Zero is selling for $34.99 Australian dollars ($29.10 US). No wonder people steal music. Avril Lavigne’s record in the same store was $21.99 ($18.21 US).
By the way, when I asked a label rep about this his response was: “It’s because we know you have a real core audience that will pay whatever it costs when you put something out – you know, true fans. It’s the pop stuff we have to discount to get people to buy.”
So… I guess as a reward for being a “true fan” you get ripped off.

* The dreaded EURO Maxi-single. Nothing but a consumer rip-off that I’ve been talked into my whole career. No more.

The point is, I am trying my best to make sure the music and items NIN puts in the marketplace have value, substance and are worth you considering purchasing. I am not allowing Capital G to be repackaged into several configurations that result in you getting ripped off.

We are planning a full-length remix collection of substance that will be announced soon.

As I have said manytimes before, it’s the record companies, not the musicians, who set these insane prices. For awhile I did believe it was to pay the musicians high fee’s, but then, you come across essays like this one, written by an industry insider, saying that is not at all true:

Reasons Not To Sign With The Major Labels

1. They tell you what to do.

Are you following this Kelly Clarkson flap? She made an album from the heart, that she wrote. What did the label do? They shelved it for months, hoping sheâ€™d come to her senses and record some more upbeat hit tracks just like the ones she recorded before, positive not NEGATIVE! Who wants to hear about Kellyâ€™s love losses, no one in the audience ever broke up with their boyfriend!

Now you might think Kelly is a mindless twit, with a voice only. But sheâ€™ll tell you she wrote hit records for others. And, sheâ€™s sold a FUCK OF A LOT OF RECORDS!

Used to be selling records gave you leverageâ€¦ If KELLY CLARKSON has no leverage, what hope is there for you, someone selling ONE TENTH the number of discs!

2. Theyâ€™re only in the disc business.

Well, weâ€™ll call it recorded music. If they ever figure out how to monetize Net acquisition, maybe their fortunes will change. But for now, the label only makes money if they sell your music. Theyâ€™ll do whatever it takes to sell your music, TODAY, to run up the value of the company so it can be sold to someone else. Theyâ€™ll whore you out to corporations (say this to yourself, “Verizon is not my friend.”), release multiple singles (if they get any traction at all), do whateverâ€™s best for THEM, not YOU! Your careerâ€¦they might pay lip service to it, but they donâ€™t really give a shit, the employees are probably not going to be IN this business by the time your next album comes out.

As for labels getting a piece of your touring income, other revenue sources, do you want to marry someone DESPERATE?

3. They donâ€™t pay you.

Oh, theyâ€™ll give you an ever-shrinking advance. But royalties? No one sells enough albums to go into royalties anymore. And they own the rights to the recording. Terry McBrideâ€™s got it right, you want to control all the rights, so you can license INSTANTLY! So you donâ€™t have to get someone on the phone to say YES to YOU about YOUR music!

Oh, theyâ€™ll give you money to get started, but itâ€™s like making a deal with the Mafia, they own you, forever.

4. Thereâ€™s no one working there.

Most analysts believe Warner cut its workforce to make its balance sheet look better, to stanch losses, hopefully report profits. In other words, itâ€™s got nothing to do with whether these people were NEEDED, whether they had jobs integral to the company, just what their salaries and benefits were. Oh, the company can outsource these jobs, but when you go for a meeting at the label do you really want to sit in an empty boardroom with a speaker phone on a conference call with a zillion temporary workers? Whose allegiance is not to this company, hell, why should it be, theyâ€™ve got to make their nut every month, theyâ€™ve got OTHER CUSTOMERS!

So, going to the building to work the labelâ€¦thatâ€™s a passe concept.

And, what if they donâ€™t outsource/get independent contractors to do the work? Will it be done at all? And, how well, by the overworked, multitasking employees still left?

5. They just care SOMETHING hits.

The label doesnâ€™t give a shit about you hitting, they just care that SOMETHING breaks through. And as soon as it does, your work project goes to the bottom of the pile. If you own your own copyrights, own the label, youâ€™re ALWAYS the priority!

6. They control physical distribution, not online distribution.

They can get your disc in stores. Then again, CAN THEY?

Online, distribution is close to flat. Make a deal with CDBaby, they can get you on all the online services, can get you paid. You donâ€™t need to be with a major to get into the online store.

As for albumsâ€¦ Do you really think albums will be the definitive format in the future?

7. Tour support is a thing of the past.

Not completely. But itâ€™s just about gone. And more than ever you need to break on the road. If youâ€™re doing all the work, why shouldnâ€™t you get all the profit?

8. They only want you once youâ€™ve proven yourself independently.

If youâ€™ve created the base, why give up control now?

9. MTV is dead.

You donâ€™t need a big budget video which wonâ€™t be aired anywhere anyway. You just need a digital camera and Final Cut Pro, maybe even iMovie, and you can create a video for almost nothing and put it up on YouTube where itâ€™s got as much presence, as much priority, as the majorsâ€™ efforts. And, you control the budget. Zillions arenâ€™t spent, and theyâ€™re not charged back to you.

10. Terrestrial music radio is dying.

If Pink can go to number one at Top Forty and languish at the bottom of the SoundScan Top Fifty, selling 15k a week, how important is that airplay ANYWAY? As for other formatsâ€¦ Hot AC doesnâ€™t sell many records, and AOR is an oldies format and the Alternative panel has shrunk to almost nothing and Active Rockâ€¦thatâ€™s not selling tonnage either.

11. They specialize in saying no.

Music is now about inspiration, made by the seat of oneâ€™s pants. You have to do business the same way. In this fast, ever-changing world, you need to take risks, youâ€™ve got to make snap decisions, youâ€™ve got to be able to say yes, QUICKLY! The major is against innovation, itâ€™s hard to get an answer AT ALL, never mind YES!

You want to give your new track away for free? No! They wonâ€™t even let you SELL IT if it competes with the track theyâ€™re working at radio/in the marketplace. Itâ€™s not about artistry, but commerce.

But, if all you care about is commerce, if you want all your money up front, if you want to whore yourself out to corporations, do whatever it takes to sell your lame, paint by numbers built by committee music, then sign with the major label. I hope you achieve your goal and get instantly rich, because after this instant, youâ€™ll be done.

*rubs his eyes* Am I dreaming this? Are people, INSIDE the industry, finally realizing how badly the consumer AND the artists are being screwed? No one is coming out of this deal with money, and happiness, other than the music execs. Finally, two men inside the music business had the guts to speak out against the injustices being done in both directions of the supply chain, and looky, looky, the guilty party is the middle man music companies. The ones crying about how THEY are losing money to music pirates, and gee, even Reznor is starting to understand that the wounds are truly “self inflicted”. Good… let’s hope they keep it until the major labels finally accidentally commit suicide…